DS Chapter 100: Upper Rank Five — Gyokko
Creak—
The front gate slowly swung open.
Before the figure covered in blood could even step inside, he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Moonlight spilled across the courtyard.
Ren hurried forward, and the moment he saw the man's face, his expression changed.
"...Murata?"
He immediately knelt beside him and helped him up.
"Murata! What happened to you?"
Murata gasped painfully for air before grabbing Ren's sleeve with trembling fingers.
"There's... a powerful demon at the foot of the Butterfly Mansion..."
"An unbelievably powerful one..."
Ren's heart sank.
The worst possibility had finally become reality.
Even so...
The fact that Murata had managed to return alive despite suffering such severe injuries was practically a miracle.
For a Demon Slayer sent on a solo mission, there were usually only three possible outcomes.
The fortunate ones completed their mission and returned with little more than dirty clothes.
Others came back wounded but alive.
The last group...
Never returned at all.
They became food.
Murata's survival alone was extraordinary.
"Stop talking."
"Let me treat your wounds first."
Ren reached out, intending to carry him inside.
But Murata suddenly grabbed him with surprising strength.
Bathed in pale moonlight, his face twisted with terror.
"No!"
"Listen to me first!"
"There's a real monster down there!"
"A monster far beyond anything we've ever faced!"
"Run!"
"Tell everyone at the Butterfly Mansion to escape!"
"If you don't..."
"Everyone here will die!"
Ren's expression darkened.
Murata was usually calm and level-headed.
Seeing him this shaken could only mean one thing.
Something had gone terribly wrong.
Ren crouched beside him and asked in a steady voice,
"What exactly did you see?"
"A demon..."
"A demon with numbers in its eyes..."
"It has to be one of the Twelve Kizuki!"
"I never stood a chance!"
"Hurry!"
"Call Lady Shinobu!"
Ren slowly shook his head.
"Shinobu isn't here."
"She left the Butterfly Mansion."
The color drained from Murata's face.
"...No..."
"How can that be..."
He had dragged himself all the way back hoping a Hashira could handle the situation.
But the Hashira was gone.
Everything felt hopeless.
"Ren..."
"Run..."
"That demon will climb the mountain by tomorrow night at the latest."
"Tell everyone to evacuate."
"Now answer my question."
Ren's voice became unusually serious.
"If you encountered one of the Twelve Kizuki..."
"How did you survive?"
It was the one detail that made no sense.
Ren knew Murata's strength.
If he had truly crossed paths with an Upper Rank...
He shouldn't have made it back alive.
Murata's face contorted with pain.
"I ran..."
"I was fighting another demon..."
"Then I accidentally found them."
"I clearly saw the numbers in its eyes."
"The moment I realized what it was..."
"I turned around and ran."
Ren frowned.
"They didn't chase you?"
"They didn't attack?"
Murata shook his head.
"No."
"I've always been a pretty good runner..."
Hearing that, Ren quietly drew his Nichirin Blade.
Shing.
"I understand now."
"Murata."
"Go inside and rest."
"The Butterfly Mansion has already been exposed."
"No!"
"I checked while I was running back."
"No one followed me!"
Murata hurriedly denied it.
But as the words left his mouth...
His voice slowly faded.
Then realization struck him.
His pupils contracted violently.
"...Wait..."
"...Don't tell me..."
His face turned deathly pale.
---
The night had become eerily still.
Not naturally quiet...
Oppressively quiet.
Ren looked toward the sky.
A full moon hung overhead.
Yet...
Its light had vanished.
The surrounding air suddenly grew heavy.
Pitch-black curtains seemed to wrap around the entire estate.
It felt as though he were trapped at the bottom of a well...
Or sealed inside a container.
His eyes swept across the distorted space surrounding him.
Then he finally understood.
A jar...
We're inside a giant jar.
Without changing his expression, Ren slowly raised his sword.
"If you're already here..."
"Why keep hiding?"
"Show yourself."
A demon with numbers in its eyes.
A Blood Demon Art capable of creating a domain.
Only one name surfaced in his mind.
---
"Hehehehehe..."
"What an interesting little human."
"It's my first time meeting a Demon Slayer who isn't terrified of me."
The voice arrived before its owner.
A round ceramic jar rolled quietly across the ground before stopping a short distance away.
The next moment...
It stood upright.
The inside of the jar was pitch-black.
Moonlight bent strangely around its opening.
Then...
Something white and sticky slowly crawled out like flowing liquid.
It was grotesque.
Its mouth contained eyes.
Its eyes contained mouths.
Its body lacked normal limbs.
Instead, large jars protruded from its sides where arms should have been.
Most eye-catching of all...
The eye within its mouth bore a single kanji.
Five.
Upper Rank Five.
Gyokko.
The moment Murata saw him, terror overwhelmed him.
"It's him!"
"He followed us!"
"Ren!"
"You run!"
"I'll hold him back!"
Murata struggled to stand.
His legs gave way almost immediately.
Ren simply pushed him gently back onto the ground.
His eyes never left Gyokko.
"Murata."
"I'll keep this short."
"We're already inside his Blood Demon Art."
"The only way out..."
"...is to kill him."
"But—"
"No 'buts.'"
Ren's voice thundered across the courtyard.
"I'm the Dragon Hashira."
"I order you to stay where you are."
"Wait for my instructions."
"...Dragon..."
"...Hashira?"
Murata froze.
Dragon Hashira?
When did the Corps get a Dragon Hashira?
Why have I never heard of him?
Ren stepped forward, positioning himself between Murata and Gyokko.
He knew this demon well.
Gyokko fought using his jars.
He could travel freely between them...
Summon grotesque creatures from within...
And attack from impossible angles.
Compared to a Marked Muichiro Tokito, Gyokko wasn't particularly overwhelming.
Although Ren hadn't fully recovered from his battle with Sanemi...
Defeating Gyokko alone shouldn't be impossible.
The real concern...
Was the Blood Demon Art surrounding them.
"Hehehe..."
"How fascinating."
"A Demon Slayer who isn't afraid of me."
Gyokko caressed one of his jars excitedly, staring at Ren as though admiring a new toy.
But...
He didn't attack.
Ren's instincts screamed.
Something's wrong.
He's stalling for time.
---
Forcibly entering the Hypermnestic State.
Memories flashed through Ren's mind like rapidly changing images.
"There's a powerful demon beneath the Butterfly Mansion!"
"A demon with numbers in its eyes! One of the Twelve Kizuki!"
"Run! That demon will reach the Butterfly Mansion by tomorrow night!"
"I was fighting another demon... then I accidentally discovered them..."
---
Hypermnestic State ended.
Ren's eyes snapped open.
His pupils narrowed.
"...Them?"
He finally realized the crucial detail.
Murata hadn't said...
"It."
He had said...
"They."